11:59 and then some
by Kaesteranya
Summary: My collection of drabbles and flash fiction pieces for Persona 3. Features both gen fic and pairing-centric ones.
1. This universe we cannot control

**This universe we cannot control.**

_The title of this one is taken from the 31 Days theme for January 1, 2008._

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Minato Arisato should have known that the day would not go well when he woke up and found Aigis lying down beside him – she hadn't really been _naked_ given the fact that she was a robot, but he would have preferred it if she had at least possessed the courtesy to wear _something_ since she had planned to play Creepy Cyborg Stalker to him anyway. Attempting to explain why it was not such a good idea to just crawl into someone else's bed and sleep with them had not been successful, and had only delayed Aigis' departure long enough for Yukari to come around and witness them in that very uncompromising position (read: one bed, two students of the opposite sex). The slap mark did not fade until lunchtime, earning him stares from the girls and catcalls from the boys.

The natural progression of a Bad Day was to snowball into Something Worse, but Minato had been optimistic – that was probably why it annoyed him all the more when things did not work out. Because of the boys in his class (namely Kenji and Junpei), news of his "dalliance" with Aigis spread like wildfire throughout the campus, and Minato wasted every spare moment he had trying to smooth things over with Yuko, Chihiro and – heaven forbid – Bebe. He neglected visiting the temple in order to go home early: dodging Yuko's punches, sitting through Chihiro's stuttering tirade and letting Bebe wail on his shoulder about "the death of samurai love!" had worn him out. He ended up spending three full hours en-route: the trains on Port Island were all delayed due to some random malfunction, the kind that only occurred once in a blue moon.

Mitsuru was out on a late night errand with Akihiko, effectively striking Tartarus out from Minato's distressingly short of list of Things to Do to Let Loose. Minato tried not to let this get to him, took one square meal (_not_ Fuuka's cooking; he could thank kami-sama for small blessings), showered (and nearly slipped on a soap bar left by Junpei, no doubt) and curled up in his bed.

Later, at Dark Hour, Pharos was left to wonder why Minato let out a small, wounded sob when he dropped in to check on him.


	2. Only in fairy tales, Junpei & Akihiko

**Only in fairy tales**

_This one is a tentative look on how Junpei and Akihiko might work as a pairing in the game. Call it my attempt at rationalizing it for myself, __for future porning purposes__. The title of this fic is taken from the 31 Days theme for July 14, 2008._

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Their story began on the very night that Junpei learned of his potential as a Persona user. He had been out late near his favorite game center and minding his own business when his world had taken a complete 360-degree turn from Normal all the way to Really Fucking Weird, mostly because the sky had turned green and the streets had gone bloody and everyone around him had been replaced with creepy-looking coffins. Akihiko had come for him that evening, trailed by the first Shadow Junpei had ever seen. Oddly, it wasn't the Shadow that Junpei really noticed – he had been more distracted by the way his upperclassman had looked that evening, haloed by the eerie yellow light of the Dark Hour Moon. There had been no other word for the moment beyond "beautiful".

Junpei remained thoroughly convinced that he was straight in the months to follow, slacking off at school by day and eliminating Shadows between 11:59 PM and 12:00 AM with the rest of SEES at night… it took the actual entrance of Shijiro Aragaki into their lives for things to start getting weird, but he managed to brush off most of weirdness with the trademark tenacity of a son who had to keep a household with a drunken father in order while balancing school work and his own interests. All of that, however, ended the moment he saw Akihiko slumped beside Shinji's body on an October Full Moon and recalled, with painful suddenness, the way the silver-haired boxer had looked to him on their very first meeting. The difference between that Akihiko and the Akihiko before him had been too striking, too painful for him to ignore.

Chidori was a brief return to comfortable heterosexuality, and Junpei's first real shot at being someone other than the big-talking loser than he often thought he was – her death crushed him, squeezed his heart in a way that no human heart ought to have been squeezed. Sometime long after they buried her, in an odd repetition of their strange past, Akihiko pulled him from the brink of falling once again by slipping into his room in the middle of the night, while the two of them were at the dorm and the rest of the party were out exploring Tartarus. Junpei pointedly ignored the older boy when he came in – he pulled his blanket over his head and faced the wall. That did not, however, stop Akihiko from talking to him from the doorway.

"Getting left behind never gets easier. You just find ways of distracting yourself from the loss and moving on, because they wouldn't want you to be sad."

A pause, and Akihiko left him that night, shutting the door behind him. Rather than brush the advice off, however, Junpei found himself counting the steps away from his door and then some before he got up. He spent five full minutes fidgeting in the hallway, standing front of Akihiko's door before he finally managed to gather up the courage to knock. The door opened almost immediately; Akihiko looked as though he had been expecting him, and he merely stepped aside to let the younger boy in.


	3. With a gust of wind, Minato & Ryoji

**Oh yes, with a gust of wind / Will come the one you seek.**

…_I believe in their happy ending. Bite me. ._._

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Sometime after the final battle was fought and the casualties of war dutifully noted down in the books of memory, an entity that used to serve as the avatar of Nyx took the shape of one Mochizuki Ryoji – a pale human boy with a thing for scarves and pretty girls – and journeyed through the world between worlds. He was searching for a quiet corner where souls who were eternally banished from the karmic cycle took refuge, and it did not take him long to move among childhood bedrooms and grassy fields and endless forests, ending his journey, at long last, at the replica of a nondescript school rooftop. He took a moment out to admire the creator's handiwork before stepping out to where the creator himself was lying in the middle of the rooftop, staring up at a sky that wasn't really a sky, listening to the music on his player.

"They allow you to make whatever place you place in here. Why did you choose this one?"

"It means the most to me."

"More than the dorm? More than Tartarus?"

"Yes."

Ryoji (because he did not like being called anything else) chuckled. He moved in, coming to sit at the other boy's head. He tugged off one of the earphones, put it in his own ear.

"…I know this song."

"It was your favorite, while you were still alive."

"So you remembered."

Minato Arisato – the human child who had silently sacrificed his all for a world that would not remember him beyond six young people and a strange dog – blinked up at him and smiled, through the fringe of his blue hair. He reached upward, touching Ryoji's cheek.

"You're not going to leave me again, are you?"

And Ryoji answered him with a kiss to the mouth and smile of his own, rather than words.


	4. Your preferred life plain, Shinji & Aki

**You preferred life plain**

_For those of you who don't know who Shinji is, this is definitely a sort of spoiler fic. XD The title for this fic is taken from the 31 Days theme for November 19, 2007._

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He used to believe that after the incident, Shinji had changed into someone that he could no longer recognize, a person so full of wounded rage and misplaced guilt that it actually _hurt_ too much to look him in the eye. The other boy's return to the dormitory, however, soon became a lesson in re-learning routines for Akihiko, in realizing that his childhood friend had not _really_ changed at all. Shinji had simply become more of who he already was, for better or for worse. Akihiko found himself thinking about that once again, as he came back to school to the smell of something wonderful brewing in the kitchen. The silver-haired boxer allowed himself a moment to try and figure out what it was, and, failing that, immediately crossed over to the kitchen to the sight of Shinji wearing an apron that looked ridiculously white against his clothes, surrounded by counters and table tops full of food in various states of preparation.

"No touching anything unless I tell you that it's fine."

"I know, I know."

Cooking was one of the things that Shinji was really good at beyond kicking ass, and it was what Shinji liked to do whenever he was in an extremely pleasant mood or an extremely bad funk – given the fact that he appeared to be experimenting with different tastes, however, told Akihiko that the other boy was in good spirits. He confirmed this by stepping up, and promptly getting reeled in by Shinji's free arm as it snaked out, to draw him close. Shinji, Akihiko realized not for the first time in his life, smelled very, very nice. The fighter leaned against the solid weight of Shinji's chest, content with watching him at work and feeling his heartbeat close to his ear.

"…Care to try this for me?"

"Sure."

The heat registered first the moment Shinji lifted the ladle to his lips, then the spice. Akihiko licked his lips, studying the taste, admiring, once again, this strange hobby that Shinji seemed to enjoy so much and the amount of skill that he poured into it. He waited until Shinji was back to stirring before he went up on his toes, to brush his lips over the other boy's.

"It's good," he murmured after their kiss, without bothering to specify exactly what he meant. Shinji only snorted and kissed him again.

"Of course it is."

It took a monumental effort on both their parts to save the making out for later.


	5. Eveningland, Akihiko

**Eveningland.**

_This fic contains spoilers for October. Its title is taken from the 31 Days theme for January 10, 2009._

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When they were small children, they'd alternate, with one of them sneaking out into the hallway, dodging the nuns that prowled the corridors of the orphanage at night in order to slip between the sheets and join the other in bed. They'd pull the blanket up over their heads and switch a flashlight on, in order to stay up until sunrise reading comics and talking to each other in whispered voices. The nuns could never figure out how they'd get right under their noses and end up tangled together, limbs akimbo, like brothers.

When they were in middle school, they kept the door between their rooms open and carried on the way they did when they were younger, except sometimes Akihiko wouldn't be able to sleep because the way Shinjiro's breath lay warm against the back of his neck left him hot and bothered. Shinjiro, of course, was oblivious right down to the day that Akihiko finally snapped and their fistfight in Gekkoukan High ended with a blowjob in the boys' bathroom. After that, one did not sleep without the other, at least until Ken Amada's mother died and Shinjiro walked out the door and away from SEES for the next few years.

After Shinjiro's return, it took them some time to work back towards keeping that door between their rooms open again, and it involved a lot of harsh words and more than a few longing stares. In that small window of Things Were Perfectly Fine, however, they slept together like tired soldiers: slumped together, too tired to do anything but be with each other, holding out, in their sleep, until the next Dark Hour.

With Shinjiro's death Akihiko came to realize that a bed for one was just too big for a single person who had lost someone who had been more than a brother, more than a lover, more than anything else in the world.


	6. Ignorance is not stupidity, the Three

**Ignorance is not stupidity, but it might as well be.**

_Spoilers for the full moon in October. The title is taken from the 31 Days theme for April 21, 2009._

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"…This shit sucks."

"Come on, now. It doesn't look so bad."

"I think he's just upset that he can't wear his beanie."

"Shut up, Aki."

Mitsuru's laugh was both a good interjection and an effective reminder of what she could do to them both if they continued to bicker and ended up pissing her off. The young woman moved into Shinji's room, lightly stepping over the junk and clothes scattered all over the floor to reach up and straighten the coat of Shinji's uniform. Akihiko watched them both from the bed, noting Mitsuru's content smile, Shinji's gruff embarrassment.

"Should I ask why you agreed to do this?"

"No."

"Very well."

The three of them went to school together that day, for the first time since Shinji left – they even ate lunch up on the rooftop, like old times. It occurred for Akihiko, at the end of that day, to ask Shinji why he had done it, but his familiarity with the way the other boy dealt with things and handled things eventually made him decide against it. He would know the reasons soon enough, when he needed to.

On the night Shinji died, Akihiko understood.


	7. Lit like a burning city, MinaRyoji

**Lit like a burning city.**

_This takes place during the class trip. The title is taken from the 31 Days theme for April 8, 2009._

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It was after everyone had gone to bed and the teachers were off drinking that the two of them had ventured down, to the hot springs. It had been remarkably easy to sneak into one of the private pools meant for two, even if the place was closed… ridiculously easy, as well, to sink into the hot water together and start kissing.

"I thought you liked girls," Minato says to Ryoji, once he's sandwiched between the rocks and the other boy's knee between his legs.

"I thought you did too," Ryoji counters with a chuckle, as he reaches down and under the towel wrapped around Minato's waist, and then up, to what it was hiding.

And it's odd, that they're making out and feeling each other up and bobbing in and out of the water in order to stay pressed together, like it's the most natural thing in the world. Strangely, though, what Minato remembers most about the evening are the little details: the way the dark seemed to bring out the pale of Ryoji's skin all the more, the light in his eyes, and the not knowing whether the water dripping down the other boy's nose is Ryoji's sweat, Minato's sweat, or the spring water.


	8. Shitting bricks, Shinji

**Shitting bricks.**

_The title is taken from the 31 Days theme for April 27, 2008._

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Oddly, the most horrific day of Shinji's life was when he woke up from a nap to frantic scratching at his door. Koromaru whimpered and tugged at the edge of his pants the moment he had opened the door, and Shinji, being only half-awake, let the dog do as he pleased.

The smell alerted him first: it was this special sort of burnt smell, not rotten but definitely bordering on pungent. He nearly passed out the moment he opened the kitchen door – the only thing that stopped him was the fact that Mitsuru, Yukari, Fuuka and Aigis were all in the kitchen, very seriously discussing how to make curry.

"How should we do this?"

"Maybe we should just throw everything in."

"Affirmative."

Minato chose to spoke up at that moment. Shinji noticed him for the first time around from where the younger boy was seated, listening to his music, not looking disturbed at all over the fact that the women in their party – the people who, ironically, had no idea how to cook – were attempting the impossible.

"I tried to stop them, _senpai_."

Shinji decided that it was time to step out for a good, long smoke.


	9. Some girls spit fire, Mitsuru

**Some girls spit fire.**

_The title is taken from the 31 Days theme for July 2, 2007._

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Sometimes, out of the blue, Kirijo Mitsuru will be fixing her things an hour before Dark Hour, pick her Evoker up and note how it's heavier than usual. She knows, of course, that it is only her imagination, but that doesn't change the feeling that it's weighted against her palm, tiring her hand out until she can barely keep it upright. These are the days she wishes that Arisato Minato, the strange boy they elected as their leader during Tartarus Explorations, will not pick her to go in with the main team, but of course, she will not admit this to anyone. A Kirijo never betrays her weaknesses, never shows any signs of hesitation.

(Her father's words, but it helps to remember them sometimes.)

She feels as though she's spent her whole life with a sword at her hip – she was reading novels while other girls her age were occupied with dolls and mini ovens, and she knew what it was like to be a lab rat before most kids were even introduced to the horrific terror of routine vaccination shots. She believes it toughened her up, hardened her properly in order to turn around and face the real evil between 11:59 and 12:00 AM every day, but sometimes she can't pick up that gun and she wonders. Then she hears Akihiko calling everyone downstairs and Mitsuru tells herself that the only reason why giving up seems like such a delicious idea is because people always want what they cannot have.


	10. Strangers in the dark, MinaRyoji

**Strangers in the dark.**

_This one is partially inspired by this really beautiful piece of fanart of Thanatos and Minato. I've always wanted to write some sort of fic based off of the image._

_Oh, uh… if you don't know who Ryoji is, then this fic is spoiler-ridden and therefore v.v. dangerous._

_The title is taken from April 19, 2006._

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Minato Arisato did not realize it until much letter, but he had actually met Ryoji a long time ago, well before he even knew about him, about Pharos, and about himself. It had happened as it usually does in Tartarus – one second you're running up the stairs with your comrades and in the next, you're on the next floor, completely alone, surrounded by shadows.

He had thought he had seen a boy up ahead, someone his age; someone human, maybe, except for the fact that he was shrouded in the sort of white that's brilliant enough to radiate its own strange light. His first instinct, of course, was to approach the other – perhaps the boy was another Fuuka, someone lost in the tower after staying too late at school. Then the boy had morphed into something terrible, something that seemed to be made of the very shadows he was surrounded by, with the mask of a monster for a head and cape of silver coffins.

There had been no time to call for back-up, no place to run – Minato also didn't want to try and find his comrades, because there was no way they'd be able to take this guy on. He had stood his ground, then, lifted his sword close to his chest and resigned himself to not coming home with the rest of them at the end of the Dark Hour. He still remembers what it was like, standing with his back to the wall, watching Death itself fly towards him on invisible wings.

Minato had expected the first slash to cut him in half. What happened, instead, was the creature standing before him, filling the air with nothing but the sound of its breathing. It had a very human hand, he remembers, one that reached out in that moment to move the hair out of his eyes and trace the lines of his face.

An arrow from the left sent the creature fleeing, and by the time he turned back from watching Yukari coming in to rescue him, Death was gone.

Minato was sleepless for the first week, mulling over the encounter – it took exams, social linking and the thrills and chills of the Tartarus for him to bury the memory somewhere deep and focus on other things. Then he met Ryoji for the first time around, spotted his long fingers and knew what it might be like, for the other boy to touch him.


	11. Taking time out to forget, Akihiko

**Taking time out to forget.**

_Spoilers for the Full Moon in October. The title is taken from the 31 Days theme for April 19, 2008._

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He hesitates sometimes, when they're moving through Tartarus together – his eyes stray a little further than they should as he sizes the rest of SEES up, seeking out the person who's supposed to be just at Ken's shoulder but isn't. Won't ever be. He catches himself when they run into a Shadow every now and then, stops himself from thinking up strategies that involve axe-wielders and bruisers when they don't have one anymore. And sometimes, when a fight pans out a particular way and unwittingly follows the pattern of some other fight in some other, lower part of Tartarus did years ago (or, worse, just a month or so back), he gets a little quiet until Mitsuru's hand on his arm brings him back.

He's decided to stand alone – that his Persona changed along with him is testament to that fact. That does not mean, however, that he was ever willing to _be_ alone, or, more like, that he was willing to not have that one particular person (brother) backing him up.


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